Big Iron

Big Iron Part II: Red

As the three friends drive off into the distance, they are able to relax - as best as they could while in the scalding desert - and drift off into their own minds, entranced in the ballad playing on the radio. After a moment passes, Mae speaks up. "Hey, y'know what this song is about right?" The two other men nod silently. "Well..." Mae continues. "How about we share our favorite stories of Texas Red? Get ourselves in the mood, eh?" She glances at Matt laying down in a pool of sweat in the backseat, while simultaneously giving a friendly nudge to her front seat partner, Ewan. 

"Mae, honestly I would rather pass out in this back seat and die if given the option" Matt grumbled. Mae shot a look to Ewan, who shrugged, and planted his arm back on the car door. 

"Fine, I guess I'll just have to start then." Mae began "Well as you know, after this song came out people were really curious about who Texas Red was. Thing is, no one alive today actually knows who Texas Red was. There was a few theories circulating about who it could be. There was-"

"Uh, yeah there was Levi something..." Matt interjected

"George" Ewan said

"What?" Matt replied. Ewan turned around to face Matt

"Levi George was one person who they thought was Red." Ewan said as he turned back around to face the windshield. "The other two names they came up with were..." Ewan stroked his bare chin for a moment, digging deep back into his memory. "Ed... Flowers?" He questioned to himself, unsure. 

"Mhm, go on..." Mae said to Ewan with a smirk, half-mocking and half-encouraging him like he had no idea what the hell he was talking about.

"Hey man, I'm trying my best okay?" He joked back. He returned to brushing his non-existant chin hair while trying to think of the final name. After a moment he quickly shot up in his seat, confident in his answer. "Oh, Red! The last guy's name was Red!" Mae, still smirking, said to Ewan in the same tone as before,

"What's his last name then, hotshot?" Ewan didn't even have to look at her, he could hear the smile in her voice. He knew she had him beat, and he let out a big sigh.

"Okay fuck you then, asshole, this is what I get for trying to play along with your shitty little game." Ewan sulked and resigned further into his seat

"Hey now, I was just teasing, you know your shit man, don't take it that harshly." Mae said, upbeat. She pushed his arm, and he glanced over at her a moment after. He tried not to let her see the smile forming on his face. 

"Well as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I wanted to tell the most well-known story of Texas Red there is. The story this song was made after, actually." She gestured to the cassette player. "This is the story of the lone Arizona Ranger, who traveled all the way down to New Mexico to take down the fearsome outlaw, Texas Red..."

To be continued...